Cambridge Corn Exchange – 23/11/09

I spent last night shooting rock legends Motorhead at Cambridge Corn Exchange. I very nearly didn’t make it: I received the press pass confirmation email in the afternoon and was due to work in Hunstanton until 7.15 that evening. Fortunately I managed to get home grab my camera bag and leave for Cambridge by 7.50 pm (and I only forgot my wallet!) and made it to the venue just as The Damned were belting out ‘Smash It Up’, a favourite of mine.

After getting my pass (with no problems or need of an email printout for a change) I tried to manoeuvre through the crowds. It was unbelievably busy (and sold out), and people were packed in like hairy, leather-jacketed sardines.  After about ten minutes I finally managed to force my way to the photo-pit and sat down with a few minutes to spare.

The pit was quite luxurious compared to others I’ve seen (I’ve been in photo-pits so tight that I once got my foot stuck!) so, when Motorhead arrived on stage, the other photographers and I could get around pretty easily without getting in each other’s way.

I’ll be honest, even though I’ve been a rock fan for more than 20 years, I’m not that familiar with Motörhead’s stuff, (though obviously I know all their big hits like ‘Ace Of Spades’ and, er…Ace Of Spades ) but I had heard that, due to the dry ice, it might be a challenge to get any decent shots. It was certainly tricky to get any contrast, as the fog made everything look washed out and soft, but I’m pretty happy with what I got in the allotted ‘3 songs, no flash’. What do you think?

I would have liked to get some shots of Matt Sorum (at least I assume it was him) on drums, but the only part of him visible was his hair. Never mind.

Acá les dejo otro material que ha andado por ahí rolando en la red y que vale más la pena tener por ser una rareza que por otra cosa.

Y es que un cover a los poderosos Motörhead siempre es de respeto, sobre todo si es bien tocado, como en esta ocasión (además vean quiénes tocan acá).

Así es, el 14 de marzo de 2009 se reunieron, en el programa Talking Metal on Fuse de la cadena FUSE TV, Mike Portnoy, baterista de Dream Theater, Frank Bello, bajista de Anthrax y Bobby Blitz, vocal de Overkill, para cotorrear acerca de metal y otras cosas.

Durante el show se les ocurrió a los hosts del mismo, Mark Strigl y John Ostronomy –guitarristas- el improvisar una banda que tocara una grandísima canción de Lemmy y compañía titulada Overkill.

El resultado de este “supergrupo” efímero titulado Turtlehead quedó grabado para la posteridad y se lo pueden conseguir acá.

Carpe diem.

Una genial canción de Motörhead.

By: J-Fénix

01. Ace Of Spades
02. Love Me Like A Reptile
03. Shoot You In The Back
04. Live To Win
05. Fast And Loose
06. (We Are) The Road Crew
07. Fire, Fire
08. Jailbait
09. Dance
10. Bite The Bullet
11. The Chase Is Better Than The Catch
12. The Hammer

http://lix.in/-5d3306

I don’t read reviews for films and books simply because I don’t think they reflect the subject well at all.  The ideal example at the moment is, of course, New Moon.  It is getting a lot of bad reviews simply because people are trying to read too much into the stories.  There are an awful lot of comments like, “The books suck, the films were worse”.   Those people can’t be in the majority or perhaps Twi-hards work hard for their money to spend on something they enjoy rather than p*xxing it against the wall?  Sorry, call me prudent but if I don’t like a book, I won’t go out and spend money on watching a film made of the book just so that I can say, “See, I told you they were crap”.

I LOVE comments where people post their comments and criticise grammar and such and then you find a spelling mistake.  Kinda takes all the venom out of it and makes the comment less worthy!  Lighten up, it’s fiction, a work of fantasy.

When will people realise that we don’t all like the same things and what is utter rubbish to one is fantastic entertainment to another.  I despise football but I don’t feel the need to start an anti-football forum or go looking for blogs to comment on to say that I don’t like it and why I don’t like it.  Horses for courses.

The human race really is going to fall foul of it’s own stupidity, isn’t it?

Talking of entertainment, Robbie, Paul and  Nico went to see Motörhead last night.  I can listen to them but not my idea of a fun night out.  Perhaps I should start an anti-Motörhead blog/forum?  Anyway, a good night was had by all and despite the fact they didn’t get t-shirts, they all came away with a Motörhead guitar pick each.  I said this was better because it was free and not available to everyone!

Kizzie has a brand new bed, very squishy and just the right size for her.  She was a bit unsure at first, she’s never had anything that posh, but thanks to Colette, she’s an even more pampered pooch!

All in all a bloody good weekend was had by everyone!

In striving to make the world a better place, by spreading the blissful two words of Heavy Metal (and any and all Extreme Music), here is a cool list of Greatest Hits CD’s from some very worthy bands and musicians. This list may quite possibly trigger a mad dash to itunes or your nearest record/CD store upon your review. Greatest Hits or Best Of CD’s are sometimes the perfect fix if you do not have any of the respective band’s albums/CD’s already. If you are like me, (a collector and sometimes over excited fan), you may like some or many bands so much, you just need to own everything that is available by such bands, including Greatest Hits. If this list of incredible Greatest Hits CD’s recruits even one new fan to the Heavy/Extreme Music genres, then I have done a fine Metal deed. Please note, I own each Greatest Hits or so named CD on this list… I could never recommend an album/CD without listening to it’s entirety and/or having ownership of. Integrity in Heavy Metal Music recommendations is an ethical must.

The Best Of Ted Nugent – Great Gonzos! – Absolutely a Hard Rock meets Heavy Metal fusion with The Motor City Madman. Cat Scratch Fever, Stranglehold, Wango Tango, Free For All and Dog Eat Dog are late 1970’s into early 1980’s FM radio Classics. Old School and not a lick here that isn’t memorable for Metal life. Plus, the reissue has 3 bonus tracks too.

IRON MAIDEN – Somewhere Back In Time/The Best Of 1980 – 1989 - An undeniably great assortment of Iron Maiden classics, spanning the unreal Metal ’80’s. 2 Minutes To Midnight and The Trooper are enough to get me psyched out of my Metal mind for at least an hour. In my Metal opinion, Iron Maiden could have/should have released a 2 – disc greatest hits, they have that many incredible songs in their Metal catalog. Yes they do.

Jimi Hendrix - Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix - A Hard Rock evolving into Heavy Metal history lesson is heard here on this album. This album of Jimi Hendrix songs are beyond great… their damn sacred. Purple Haze, The Wind Cries Mary, Hey Joe, Foxy Lady, All Along The Watchtower and the Rock historical – Star Spangled Banner… c’mon, these songs are the Metal building blocks of every Heavy Metal and/or Hard Rock genre out there today. 20 songs total on this masterful collection, not a must have… a no brainer must own.

DIO – The Very Best Of DIO – Ronnie James Dio is a living Metal legend. His vocals for me, are the epitome of what Heavy Metal singing is all about. Dio’s solo career takes center stage on this amazing collection of greatest hits. Holy Diver, Rainbow In The Dark, Rock and Roll Children, Mystery and The Last In Line are DIO songs that pack the same potent Metal punch to my ears and senses… as they did back in the 1980’s. 16 songs total on this DIO disc. Metal masterpieces only sound better with age.

Black Sabbath – The Dio Years - I find this collection of Black Sabbath songs to be uncannily irresistible. These are the Black Sabbath songs from the Ronnie James Dio era, with the Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules, Live Evil and Dehumanizer albums all represented. This same Black Sabbath lineup may be called Heaven and Hell in 2009, yet does it really matter? Their still Black Sabbath to me.

Twisted Sister – Big Hits and Nasty Cuts – Dee Snider made Heavy Metal all the more visible on MTV with the Twisted Sister video We’re Not Gonna Take It, back in 1984. This Twisted Sister greatest hits album is loaded with 6 live bonus tracks as well. This is another band that could easily fill up more than one disc of great songs from their Heavy Metal catalog. Under The Blade and The Kids Are Back are my two favorites on this one.

KISS – Double Platinum – I have proudly owned this album since it’s release back in 1978. I was in seventh grade back then and this was my very first KISS album. My Double Platinum album is still in beautiful condition too. A 2 record set, opening up as a gatefold, this album also included a platinum record certificate to the fan who purchased it. (I wish I kept this piece of KISS memorabilia, it was just made of paper and it hung on my bedroom wall for several years, when I was a kid of course). The important thing is I still have Double Platinum on vinyl… plus I upgraded Double Platinum by buying the CD many years ago too. (It is not a double CD, all the songs are on just one… I don’t know if this ever changed over to a double CD over the years). Just about every important and cool KISS song from the 1970’s is on Double Platinum, with Hard Luck Woman and Calling Dr. Love being my two vintage KISS favorites.

Queensryche - Sign of the Times, The Best Of Queensryche – Buying this CD suited me well since many of my Queensryche “albums” were purchased on cassette years ago. Queensryche has always been a favorite of mine, a high powered – progressive Metal Band that crossed over into Rock and Hard Rock too. Musical diversity is no stranger to Queensryche. My two favorites are Queen of the Reich and Jet City Woman. Yes, those two songs are tops on my list.

Alice Cooper – Alice Coopers Greatest Hits – This album was released back in 1974, it is the Greatest Hits of Alice Cooper (The Band). Man, this is Old School Heavy Metal. Sure, some may argue it is comprised of Old School Hard Rock as well… that is fine by me. The Metal bottom line is this: Alice Cooper (The Band), was just as much as important to the creation of Heavy Metal as any other band of their time or before them. That is my Metal opinion and I have to tell it to the world. Oh, yeah, my favorite songs from this Greatest Hits are – No More Mr. Nice Guy, Under My Wheels and well, just every song on this Greatest Hits is great.

Motorhead – The Best Of Motorhead - This is one great and comprehensive double disc, greatest hits of Motorhead. I bought this Motorhead disc due to my needing any and all of their releases, regardless if I already have the songs. This Best Of was released in 2000, with two live bonus tracks included. There are 40 songs total on this double disc Motorhead bounty! Also found on The Best Of Motorhead are: Hawkwind playing Motorhead, Girlschool covers Bomber and Headgirl covering Please Don’t Touch. The history of Motorhead is covered up to the year 2000, from Ace of Spades to the Motorhead cover version of God Save The Queen. Plus, my favorite Motorhead song of all time is on here too – Killed By Death, from the No Remorse (Greatest Hits album). Long live Lemmy and Motorhead.

I could go on and on with this list of Heavy Metal Greatest Hits CD’s worth owning. Showing and quipping about some of the Greatest Hits CD’s I own, can maybe help out someone who is on the fence about one of these bands or musicians. These CD’s above are all consistently listened to by me, they are perfect for when I’m in the mood to hear the choice songs from these bands/musicians. As Dee Snider has sung, with Heavy Metal pride: You can’t stop Rock and Roll!

Welcome once again to a recap of our weekly finds from around the internet.

As always, we begin our journey by fortifying ourselves with a piece of cheesecake.  This week, at Chris’ request, that cheesecake is Padma Lakshmi, the host of Top Chef on The Food Network.  I have to be honest and say I’m curious to see what kind of traffic the combination of cheesecake and Padma Lakshmi drives.

Padma’s geek credentials are strong.  Besides her work on The Food Network, she has been a runway model, the love interest in an EELS music video, Sean Bean’s nemesis in Sharpe’s Challenge and, perhaps most importantly, an alien princess on Star Trek:  Enterprise.

It’s good to be Scott Bakula.

Oh, and she was married to Salman Rushdie.

On with the links.

1. Chicago Tribune columnist literally eats his words re:  Bulls C Joakim Noah.
2. Between Two Ferns with Zack Galifanakis, the best talk show EVER schools Conan.
3. The 100 Greatest Quotes from The Wire.
4. Newsweek presents the decade in 7 seconds.
5. Smart guys fight over football; Malcom Gladwell puts the hurt on a reviewer over QBs and draft status.
6. A trailer for a movie where Manny Pacquiauo fights a giant crab.
7. College football play of the year from Bethel College in Kansas.
8. Commonsense?  Conservatism?  Verbal tic?
9. Microsoft blows a software rollout?  No way!
10. Stephe’s a Trekkie…ummm…Trekker.
11. E*Trade baby outtakes.  Funnier than you think.
12. Calibrate.
13. Bacon Envelopes.  Thank you science.
14. Humorous bailout rant.
15. Existentialism.
16. Interview with Lemmy.  \m/
17. Robot band.
18. Rescuing the horns for metal.  See above.
19. That’s both gross and wrong.  More wrong, but still gross.
20. More cryptozoology.
21. Our obligatory Twilight link of the week.
22. And I’ve read two.
23. And I drafted two.
24. I’m pretty sure the word you’re looking for is treason.
25. Disturbing XBox 360 story #1.
26. Disturbing XBox 360 story #2.
27. NO!  REALLY!
28. And, finally, Jon Stewart once again delivers the truth.  This time about Nancy Grace.

Antes de que se subiera a escenarios para cantar ace of spades., Lemmy klimiser trabajaba como el roadie de Jimi Hendrix afinando guitarras y transportando equipo. Lemmy entro al negocio gracias a un amigo local suyo, probo durante ocho mese acido a finales de los 70´s del cual redacta:

“Yo le conseguía diez tripis de LSD, él se quedaba con siete y me daba tres a mí. Me parecía de lo más razonable” y “Me hizo darme cuenta como es la otra gente. No es que recomiende mi estilo de vida a nadie. No sobrevivirían.”

Lemmy admiraba mucho a Hendrix y lo recuerda como el mejor guitarrista del mundo, tanto como su lema “sex, drugs and rock & roll” que incluso recuerda:

“Si querías ver una maratón de sexo, Jimi era el amo. Nunca he vuelto a ver nada parecido: montones de chicas se volvían locas con él y hacían cola en la puerta del camerino hasta que llegaba su turno”.

Y comparándolo entre Eddie Van Halen y su antiguo maestro, Lemmy termina la discusión citando:  “Hendrix tocaba guitarra rítmica y solista a la vez, entre las piernas, a la espalda, al derecho, al revés… Dios bendiga a Eddie Van Halen, pero ni se acerca a Jimi”.

Metal Odyssey hereby bellows, with Heavy Metal enthusiasm, a Happy Metal Birthday to Matt Sorum! 49 years on planet Earth has Matt Sorum been, arriving on November 19, 1960. Matt Sorum is the drummer for Velvet Revolver and former drummer for Guns N’ Roses and The Cult. (These are the most famous bands that Matt Sorum has been drummer for). A Heavy Metal milestone for Matt Sorum happened this Fall of 2009, where he filled in as the drummer for the ultra legendary Motorhead. (Mikkey Dee of Motorhead took a leave of absence to be on a reality television show, some sort of survivor type show).

Man, if there ever was a sharp dressed man, Matt Sorum has the knack for looking sharp. ZZ Top must have wrote Sharp Dressed Man with Matt Sorum in mind. Matt Sorum has his own clothing line too, if I had the extra loot I would be buying his stuff and strutting the look. Oh well, I guess the $12 jeans from Walmart will suffice me for now. Matt Sorum teamed up with renowned fashion designer Max Noce and launched the Sorum Noce Clothing Line this past March of 2009.

As for Matt Sorum on drums, what can I say? This guy is real good. C’mon, the three bands he has been drummer for are no slouches within the world of Heavy Metal. To have been the drummer for those three bands of their status, man, that basically says it all. Plus, once Velvet Revolver makes a return, (with a new lead singer of course), Matt Sorum will be manning the skins and continuing his Hard Rock/Heavy Metal legacy. As I read a quote from Lemmy Kilmister, (vocalist & bass guitarist of Motorhead), recently, he referred to Matt Sorum as a professional. ‘Nuff said.

Idag gratulerar vi batteristen Matt Sorum som fyller 49 år. Han har hanterat trumskinnen i ett flertal kända orkestrar; The Cult, Guns’n'Roses, Neurotic Outsiders, Slash’s Snakepit, Velvet Revolver och Camp Freddy till exempel. Och Darling Stilettos.

Och minsann hoppade inte Matt Sorum in i Motörhead på årets turné när Mikkey Dee istället valde att medverka i TV-succén Kändisdjungeln med Pippi Långstrump och Thorleif Torstensson of Thorleifs… Rock on!

I started this blog on November 16th, 2008. One year later, there have been 187 posts, 247 comments and quite a few visitors. In fact, the numbers of views has risen from 25 in  the first month to 6889 in October. It’s been a pleasure sharing my various adventures and misadventures with you over the past year. I’m glad that some people out in the world wide web have found them informative, interesting or amusing.

Not sure what the next 12 months will bring. Hopefully I’ll visit some beautiful places, meet some interesting people, learn a few kanji, and take a couple of really good photographs.

Thanks for reading.

Chris

Miren estos videos… algunos de los clasicos de siempre(por que la lista seria interminable), los que lo acompañan en las buenas y en las malas en esta vida, excelente acompañarlos con una dosis de alcohol.  Las raices de los maniacos…suerte.

Forgotten Disc Friday Report:

Click here to go to FDF to check Motorhead “Overkill”, “No Class”, and “The Hammer”

I think my 2nd All Freakin Night truly solidified my love for Olympia.  Drinking tepid rum and cokes out of Dasini bottles while leaning forward to throw trash off a 2nd floor balcony, all the time attempting to slur out a quip at a theater screen (as loud as fucking possible), which is playing a movie about space slugs that turn people into zombies; I even turned down taking mushrooms that night.  The funny thing is that there were at least four more movies afterwards.  What I’m trying to expertly transition into is my love for Night of The Creeps.

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This is one of those movies I always saw sitting up on the rack at the local video/liquor store when I was a kid.  I’d go into the stagnant shop once a week with my Dad to rent a NES game and if I’d been good that week I could maybe get a movie too.  When my Dad would browse the “walk-in closet” sized section of ever so fine spirits (always coming out with rum) I could be found gawking at whatever creepy or crazy VHS caught my eyes.  Some of my favorites that I can still remember today are:  Dead Alive, Evil Dead 2, and Nightmare On Elm Street 3. Of course I was never allowed to rent any of these movies and probably didn’t see most of them until I was 18.  My Mom told me about seeing The Exorcist in theaters when my oldest brother Andrew was a toddler (he just turned 40).  The movie fucked with my Mom so bad that she sped home right when the end credits started to roll, convinced my brother was most likely speaking in tongues and telling the babysitter that his/her mother sucks cocks in Hell (he does love Motorhead).  Anyways, it makes sense that I wasn’t priviliged these gems as a child.

Sci-fi horror is the basis of many of my nightmares growing up.  Once Andrew blossomed into the old brother that wished to enlighten/terrify his uncultured sponge of a sibling, I found – very bluntly – the ingredients to being frightened via film.  Let’s all give a hand for John Carpenter at his cinematic raping of the senses: The Thing. Even to this day I can’t think of a movie that hucks bundles of dynamite at the caveman side of human nature as his remake did.  I know at some point in my youth Andrew threw on what would become a film that rests comfortably in my top ten favorites and I couldn’t shit right for a week.  No joke; my Dad had to sit in on all my bathroom endeavors for a bit because I was afraid of Charles Hannahan’s detached spider fuck-me-I-never-ever-wanna-see-that-thing-whether-in-real-or-fucking-Oz head.

Aliens is right there with The Thing when it comes to a movie that caused me to always run and jump on my bed when it was lights out.  How was I to know there wasn’t a facehugger under the box spring;  didn’t fuck about.  It also spawned my HATE for Paul Reiser even though I know Burke was just a character, but I don’t care.  Every time I watched Mad About You (don’t even ask me why, I don’t even know) I would stare at Reiser and think, “You lied to Ripley and so many good people were killed because of it.  I wish I could have punched you to death before that alien got you… prick.”  Guilty by association:  I hate Helen Hunt too.  Whatever, she sucks.

So when my parents would leave me home alone I’d dig through the pile of copied VHS tapes (my favorite had The Great Mouse Detective, Wayne’s World, and Addams Family on it) and usually end up with Aliens because The Thing disappeared once Andrew left for college.  Between the releases of these two sci-fi horror titans I was missing out on the teen/college equivalent:  Night of The Creeps.

Doofy college freshmen – whose best friend has polio – attempts to take out his dream girl for the formal, but of course zombie jocks/bros who are afflicted with space brain slugs derail the evening.  Solution?  A shotgun, flamethrower, revolver, lawnmower, and Tom Atkins.  I know for a fact I would have grown up to be a better person if I had this movie in my possession as a youngster.  I probably would have been nicer to people with disabilities too, but my parents insisted I play t-ball.  Thus it’s not my fault that I love Christopher Reeves jokes, but Mom and Dad’s.

Horror is the genre that I can’t get tired of and am always willing to watch.  If I wanna have trouble sleeping I’ll put on The Changeling (I’m actually a little uneasy right now just thinking about it) and keep thinking I see something just out of my peripherals.  How about bad people getting exactly what they deserve?  Then it’s Sleepaway Camp, just make sure no one spoils the ending for ya.  What keeps horror fresh is the blending of genres.  I’m trying to stay on the subject of sci-fi horror, but what makes a film watchable over and over again for me is the humor.  Re-Animator is a rare title that I could easily watch every day because it’s funny as shit.  A roommate justifies hiding a dead cat in his mini-fridge because he didn’t wish to leave a sticky note that read “cat dead, details later”.  Dr. West is a gentleman and don’t you forget it.

I’ve heard “splatter comedy” tossed around when talking about movies like Creeps, but The Return of The Living Dead was the first movie to be labeled by this sub-genre to my knowledge.  Without going off the deep end about it, they’re films that use gore and violence – not just funny dialogue – to heighten the comedic qualities as the story pans out.  To someone who isn’t big on horror it can sound perverse that laughter can come from someone being blown up, but with the right line delivered, piece of music used, or sometimes even the lack of both, humor can come spilling out in bloody abundance.

The real appeal in Creeps is writer/director Fred Dekker’s stew of a tale that involves so many aspects in cinema.  You got two buddies who are bumbling around a college campus and all they really want is some lady-loving, which leads to partying.  Apparently getting into a frat gets you laid, so just like any “sex comedy” whacky antics need to ensue; a prank.  The prank brings us to a previous flashback of the cliche 50’s that is familiar as Hell because of old throwback black and whites.  An object jettisoned from an alien craft streaks over make-out point and of course it lands nearby; it MUST be investigated.  It’s a perfect catalyst to the ridiculousness that object – a singular space slug – will cause years later.

Once bursting heads start spurting out legions of wiggly-jiggles that dart across tile floors looking for an open orifice (my God that was fun to type) we need a hero and we get one:  Tom “Thrill Me” Atkins.  His character Detective Ray Cameron easily sits alongside dudes like Reggie, Peter, and Ash at the big boy table for bad asses in horror.  He’s full of one-liners, a fucked up past, and finishes every sentence with a shotgun blast (I’m on a God damn roll).  That’s the issue I have with many hero characters these days, is that they can’t be fun and kooky.  The ones that are a little odd-ball are typically very young characters, but rarely are they the old-timers with age in their face and stories to tell.

And don’t let me forget J.C. played by Steve Marshall (he was also on 21 Jump Street, so you know this guy is big time).  Now I always say he had polio in the movie – even though there’s no mention of it – so maybe I’ll just switch to “handicapped”… even though I wanna say “cripple”.  Having a character with a disability for no good God damn reason does add some realism to a film that is so far passed the limits of normality.  I hate when every actor in a film looks like they just got done tanning in the OC and are on their way to getting frap-a-fucking-chinos at some coffee shop before they zoom off to blow each other while watching Friends. The characters in this movie look like normal to partially awkward people, just like every other random you pass on the street.  Dekker threw in a guy who should easily be a shut-in, but J.C. turns out to be one of the better characters in the movie.  He pushes his buddy Chris (the actor Jason Lively was also on 21 Jump Street; P.I.M.P.) to actually talk to a woman and not be such a pussy that bitches about everything wrong in his life, but actually assists him in fixing all the bullshit.

I don’t think I ever wanna have kids.  I’m already too damn selfish as it is and if I have to fork out cash to some free-loader that can’t even walk or talk; don’t think so.  But if I ever become “responsible” and “stop peeing in the sink” which – God forbid – leads me into parenthood, my kid would get a VHS tape (yup, just because I’m an adult doesn’t mean I’m NOT poor) with three titles on it:  The Thing, Aliens, and Night of the Creeps.  Because isn’t the whole point of having kids so as not to be your parents or do I have that backwards?  I really don’t know.  Well I’m off to get a vasectomy; wish me luck.

crowbar is the perfect name for this band. well, “Doom-laden NOLA-brand grave-digging dirgeing metal” would be the most accurate name, but not quite as punchy.

on this album, their first full length, issued way back when, the band is arguably at their finest. the music is unpolished and left raw and crackly by Philip Anselmo’s amazing production job. the album is slow, assertive, and honest from head to toe.

there are only ten tracks, which is a bit of a disappointment. or at least it was for me when i walked back from that small record shop about 2 miles from my house back in my freshman year of high school. i remember walking on the side of the road looking at the album and being let down that i spent 13 (it may have only been 12, i dont remember all that clearly) dollars on a 10  track cd. but then i got home and i played it on my dad’s stereo system. the album was unlike anything i had ever heard before. it was Black Sabbath meets Corrosion of Conformity meets Sunn 0))) meets Motorhead meets Pantera meets a whole lot of bourbon meets one serious singer. it is funny that i reacted like that. i had heard ‘Existence is Punishment’ and ‘All I Had I Gave’ before. but i hadnt liked them. they sounded ‘goofy’. but when i sat down and played this album i was quickly persuaded otherwise. the one song that stuck out to me as the absolute perfect crowbar song was actually a cover. track five, ‘No Quarter’.

the song is slow, building, and most of all painful. the singer’s voice on this album had a Keith Caputo circa ‘River Runs Red’ quality to it. there is such amazing honesty in the words and voice that it is almost off putting. when he sings ‘I Have Failed’ or ‘Existence is Punishment’ he actually believes it. and it hurts.

the album is beautiful though. like a perfect car-wreck, it just has this true beauty and serene destruction that must be seen to understand.

http://www.amazon.com/Crowbar/dp/B00004YX2V/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_lnk

do yourself a favor, pick up a copy.

Tonight I was going through a stash of Heavy Metal albums I own. This particular pile I have not looked at for about three years, since my family and I escaped from expensive Connecticut. Honestly, I don’t recall really looking through this pile for years… the movers handled our belongings, I am thankful nothing bad happened to them. Anyhow, there were some really cool picture discs among this pile. Motorhead too! Man, some of the stuff I found tonight I was certain was either sold, lost or given away. To say this pile of Vintage Heavy Metal vinyl put a grin on my face is a huge Metal understatement! One excellent picture disc that caught my eye and brought back neat memories for me is Motorhead Beer Drinkers. I can’t recall the exact year that I bought this gem… 1983 or 1984 is the ballpark for certain. I can remember playing this picture disc on my turntable years, uh, I mean decades ago. Like all picture discs, the overall sound quality is not as clear or good as regular vinyl. Nonetheless, this is a Motorhead picture disc that I played and displayed for quite a few years. I still cannot believe I found it buried in my collection tonight.

I am leaning towards the notion that this Beer Drinkers picture disc is rare. I don’t know and never knew the actual number of pressings that these picture discs had… back in the early ’80’s who gave a crap about that anyways? There are a few other great picture discs I found as well, I will share them with the world in the near future too. The track listing is below, (instead of the word “side”, the word “face” is printed on this picture disc. Check out the views of the front and back of this picture disc, real cool. There is a “Made In France” sticker on the outer plastic sleeve of this picture disc. The date on the picture disc is 1983, along with S.P.I. Paris. The first song – Beer Drinkers (And Hell Raisers) is a ZZ Top cover song. Uh, no, I am not going to part with this Motorhead Beer Drinkers picture disc… not a chance for it serves me right.

Face A:

Beer Drinkers (And Hell Raisers)

On Parole

Vibrator

White Line Fever

City Kids

Face B:

Instro

I’m Your Witch Doctor

Keep Us On The Road

Lost Johnny

Motorhead

En este episodio salen temas de grupos que han sacado álbumes este año. Ya que llegamos al fin de año quiero repasar álbumes, o artistas que en muchos casos no he puesto en otros episodios. Como los siguientes:

Heaven & Hell
Slayer
Chimaira
The Haunted
Kreator
Static-X
Mudvayne
Fear Factory
Dope
Sister Sin
Lacuna Coil
Marilyn Manson
Rob Zombie
God Forbid

También se habla sobre lo siguiente:
The Devil You Know, World Painted Blood, Megadeth, Tom Araya, Rob Arnold, The Elite, The Infection, Versus, Thrash, Cult Of Static, Tony Campos, Prong, Wayne Static, Dave Mustaine, The New Game, Arkaea, Mechanize, Zakk Wylde, Ozzy Osbourne, No Regrets, Motorhead, Switchblade Serinade, I Like It, Lamb Of God, Shadow Life, The High End Of The Low, Kobetasonik, Kerry King, Fox News, Halloween, George Bush, Doc Coyle, Earthblood

El podcast se puede descargar en formato que prefiere desde aquí:

O escucha online aquí:

At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the guns of war fell silent over the fields of France as the Great War came to an inglorious end.  After four years of bloody war and twenty million dead, a generation of European youth was dead, great empires had fallen, new nations arose, and the whole world was changed.  Throughout Europe, November 11 is memorialized as Armistice Day.  In the countries of the British Commonwealth, it is called Remembrance Day.  In the United States, we call it Veterans’ Day.  But, by whatever name it is called, it serves as a stark reminder of the sacrifice that thousands of young people made when called upon to serve their nations in times of war.

I’m breaking from the theme of the blog today in that there were no satisfactory cover versions of the three tracks that I want to feature.  Also, I’m posting the lyrics to the songs so that their messages can be better considered.

In 1991, British rock band, Motörhead released their album 1916.  The title track was sung by lead singer and bassist, Lemmy, in an uncharacteristically quiet and tender voice and told the story of the young men who went to serve and die in the fields of Europe.

Motörhead “1916″

16 years old when I went to the war,
To fight for a land fit for heroes,
God on my side, and a gun in my hand,
Chasing my days down to zero,
And I marched and I fought and I bled
And I died & I never did get any older,
But I knew at the time, that a year in the line,
Was a long enough life for a soldier

We all volunteered,
And we wrote down our names,
And we added two years to our ages,
Eager for life and ahead of the game,
Ready for history’s pages,
And we brawled and we fought
And we whored ’til we stood,
Ten thousand shoulder to shoulder,
A thirst for the Hun,
We were food for the gun, and that’s
What you are when you’re soldiers

I heard my friend cry,
And he sank to his knees, coughing blood
As he screamed for his mother
And I fell by his side,
And that’s how we died,
Clinging like kids to each other,
And I lay in the mud
And the guts and the blood,
And I wept as his body grew colder,
And I called for my mother
And she never came,
Though it wasn’t my fault
And I wasn’t to blame,
The day not half over
And ten thousand slain, and now
There’s nobody remembers our names
And that’s how it is for a soldier.

The other tracks I want to focus on are “The Ballad of Bill Hubbard”  and the last part of “Amused to Death” from Roger Waters’ (sorry to repeat him so soon; he thinks about war a lot)1992 album Amused to Death.  The album opens and closes with the words of WW I veteran, Alf Razzell, as he recounts how he had to leave fellow soldier Bill Hubbard to die alone in no-man’s land.  Guest guitarist, Jeff Beck provides a haunting soundtrack on the recorded version and Doyle Bramhall II does the job in the live performance.

Lyrics to “The Ballad of Bill Hubbard”

[Alf Razzell:] “Two things that have haunted me most are the days when I had to collect the paybooks; and when I left Bill Hubbard in no-man’s-land.

“I was picked up and taken into their trench. And I’d no
sooner taken two or three steps down the trench when I heard a
call, ‘Hello Razz, I’m glad to see you. This is my second night
here,’ and he said ‘I’m feeling bad,’ and it was Bill Hubbard,
one of the men we’d trained in England, one of the original
battalion. I had a look at his wound, rolled him over; I could
see it was probably a fatal wound. You could imagine what pain
he was in, he was dripping with sweat; and after I’d gone about
three shellholes, traversed that, had it been…had there been a
path or a road I could have done better. He pummelled me, ‘Put
me down, put me down, I’d rather die, I’d rather die, put me
down.’ I was hoping he would faint. He said ‘I can’t go any
further, let me die.’ I said ‘If I leave you here Bill you won’t
be found, let’s have another go.’ He said ‘All right then.’ And
the same thing happened; he couldn’t stand it any more, and I had
to leave him there, in no-man’s-land.”

“Amused to Death” live.

Starting at the 7:03 mark:
[Alf Razzell:] “Years later, I saw Bill Hubbard’s name on the memorial to the missing at Aras. And I…when I saw his name I was absolutely transfixed; it was as though he was now a human being instead of some sort of nightmarish memory of how I had to leave him, all those years ago. And I felt relieved, and ever since then I’ve felt happier about it, because always before, whenever I thought of him, I said to myself, ‘Was there something else that I could have done?’ [background: "I'd rather die, I'd rather die..."] And that always sort of worried me. And having seen him, and his name in the register – as you know in the memorials there’s a little safe, there’s a register in there with every name – and seeing his name and his name on the memorial; it sort of lightened my…heart, if you like.”

(woman) “When was it that you saw his name on the memorial?”

“Ah, when I was eighty-seven, that would be a year, ninete…eighty-four, nineteen eighty-four.”

Let us remember all the names on the memorials.

Pre-4 a.m. Coming down with the Black Plague. I thought they only gave that to orphans. Do they still make orphans? Do they still have orphan factories? I sure do miss 19th century England.

Hot chocolate way too hot for my face. My tongue screams! This is an interesting way to start the day.

I’ll probably watch a movie now, or finish watching the BBC documentary on Motorhead, “Live Fast, Die Old”, that I turned up the other day.  Ahhh Lemmy… I started to watch Braveheart on Blu-ray last night. I had forgotten how unutterably cool that movie is.  Ahhh Mel… I’ll pick it up from the beginning  tonight after the girlfriend gets home, if I don’t die of this Black Plague. I can almost hear Vincent Price laughing.

Maybe just maybe I landed a gig as a film reporter for an online publisher. Don’t know how much it pays but rest assured that I need more money. Gobs more. I wish to stuff my wallet full of large bills to the point where it will no longer close. I had that feeling once. They weren’t all large bills but there were some in there, yes indeed. Gotta get the defibrillator panels to the old bank account.

Słowo “Motorhead” na ogół przywołuje skojarzenia z Lemmym, hard rockiem, alkoholizmem, pijanymi laskami i tego typu historiami. Trudno przypuszczać by nawet fani elektronicznej rozgrywki (szczególnie ci młodsi) łączyli “Motorhead” z grą komputerową, ale w rzeczywistości taki tytuł istnieje, a nawet ma swoich stałych fanów, którzy pokochali specyficzny klimat gry.

Samochody ze stali

Ścigałka ta została rozpowszechniona w kraju głównie dzięki CD Action, bo w czterdziestym czwartym numerze tego pisma pojawiła się jako dodatek w pełnej wersji. Przyznać trzeba, że we wszelakich podsumowaniach czytelników CDA Motorhead nie znajduje specjalnego uznania, a jak wspomniałem na wstępie  tytuł ten, choć wielkim hitem z pewnością nigdy nie był, to trafił w serca i dyski twarde niejednego gracza.

Z założenia są to wyścigi, ale oparte przede wszystkim na umiejętnościach naszych rąk i odpowiednim poziomie ich zręczności. Wszak właśnie zręczność w Motorhead jest najważniejsza, bo nieważne czy nasze auto z prędkością kilkuset km/h wjedzie w betonowy słup skoro po szybkim restarcie jest w nienaruszonym stanie… w końcu to auta przyszłości, nieprwadaż? Uściślając chodzi w Motorhead o to aby jak najszybciej dojechać do mety, wyprzedzając rywali, a czasami nawet utrudniając im życie.

Gra oferuje kilka trybów rozgrywki. Od standardowego single race gdzie możemy się pościgać bez presji czasowej czy ligowej, ale takowe pojawiają przy kolejnych trybach. W Time Attack prowadzimy nasze auto bez konkurencji ze strony komputera i polega on na szlifowaniu naszych rekordów czasowych na konkretnych trasach i przy konkretnych odcinkach. Z kolei Ghost Race to tryb, w którym samochody przeciwników są widoczne, ale tylko w formie “duchów”, tj. bez konsekwencji możemy wchodzić z nimi w “kontakt”. Polega on m.in. na możliwości poprawieniu wyniku z uprzednio ukończonego wyścigu w trybie single race.

Niemniej jądrem całej rozgrywki Motorhead jest liga. W tychże futurystycznych wyścigach przyjdzie nam zmierzyć się z całą stawką kierowców. Po każdym wyścigu zostajemy odpowiednio sklasyfikowani i w przypadku gdy będziemy osiągać dobre pozycje umożliwi  nam to awans do wyższej ligi, a tym samym dostęp do większej ilości tras i samochodów oraz naturalnie przysporzy nam to litrów ociekającego na naszej twarzy splendoru.

W garażu

Motorhead oferuje osiem futurystycznych, osadzonych w “sceneriach przyszłości” tras. Tym samym będziemy ścigać się na takich obiektach jak (kolejność alfabetyczna): Atlantika, Goldbridge, NeoCity, NolbyHills, Olympos, OkkunSpeedway, RedRock i RuhrStadt. Tyle, że na początku rozgrywki do wyboru będziemy mieli zaledwie dwa obiekty, a odblokowanie kolejnych będzie uzależnione od naszych sukcesów na torze.

Podobnie jest z autami. Twórcy gry zaoferowali je łącznie w liczbie dziesięciu, ale trzeba będzie popracować aby je wszystkie odblokować, bo wybór gracza na początku rozgrywki ogranicza się tylko do trzech modeli.

Nasze furki wyróżniają trzy cechy rozdysponowane inaczej przy każdym z dziesięciu modeli, są to: osiągi prędkości, przyspieszenie i przyczepność. Poza  blachą, której kolor – co ciekawe – możemy sami ustalić,  różnice są widoczne jeszcze przy sygnale dźwiękowym tzn. klaksonie. W tym wypadku każde auto posiada swój unikatowy dźwięk. W gestii gracza pozostaje jeszcze wybór automatycznej lub półautomatycznej skrzyni biegów.

Jeśli idzie o aspekt wyścigowy w Motorhead jest tak jak zaznaczyłem na wstępie. W tej grze postawiono przede wszystkim na elementy charakterystyczne grom zręcznościowym, bo nie ma w niej realizmu za grosz! Tyle, że kogo to obchodzi? Wszak jeździ się świetnie! Na zawiłych i dynamicznych trasach nasze samochody będą osiągać prędkości, które bez większego wysiłku dochodzić będą powyżej 300 km/h, a w przypadku ewentualnej kolizji nie musimy wymieniać całego zawieszenia czy nawet lusterek… auto wyklepuje się automatycznie samo .

Na ekranie rozgrywki pojawiają się standardowe informacje: najlepszy czas okrążenia, najlepszy czas ogółem, ilość przejechanych okrążeń, pozycja w wyścigu, mini mapka i prędkość.

Nasze wyścigi możemy ustawić w jednym z kilku widoków kamery, ale chyba najbardziej optymalny jest klasyczny z widokiem na auto.

Soundtrack jakich mało

Nietzsche mówił, że “życie bez muzyki jest błędem”, a ja odnosząc te słowa do niniejszej gry mogę powiedzieć, że Motorhead bez muzyki byłby błędem. Nie ma co ukrywać, że poza dobrą grywalnością, muzyka z menusów i wyścigów w Motorhead jest rewelacyjna, a być może jest to jeden z najlepszych soundtracków w grach komputerowych?

Za dynamicznymi i żywymi kompozycjami stoi niejaki Olof Gustafsson. Łączą one w sobie przede wszystkim elektronikę, całe mnóstwo sampli, a pewnie i także ukłony w kierunku techno, industrialu, a może i nawet trance’u. Prawdę mówiąc to Gustafsson mógłby z powodzeniem napisać z tych utworów płytę, która bez Motorhead mogłaby się nieźle sprzedać, bo jego muzyka stanowi coś na kształt odpowiedzi na gatunek pod koniec XX-ego wieku. Mają jednak to szczęście twórcy tej ścigałki (oraz gracze), że  muzyka Szweda znalazła się własnie u nich.

I dobrze, że najważniejsze dla tego typu gier animacje zdają test na piątkę. Nie kłócą się one przy tym z wspomnianą muzyką, a wręcz  dodają jej dynamizmu. Włączając przejrzystą i czytelną grafikę wychodzi naprawdę przyzwoity audiowizualny potworek.

Suma summarum Motorhead to coś dla fanów gier zręcznościowych osadzonych w klimacie samochodów. Bez wątpienia nikły realizm rozgrywki nie jest w stanie przysłonić wyjątkowej wartości tej gry, na którą składają się nieziemski klimat podkreślony świetną muzyką, duża grywalność i sam koncept wyścigów w bliżej nieokreślonej przyszłości.

Musisz sięgnąć jeśli… lubisz zawrotne prędkości i nigdy nie jeździsz po alkoholu .

tadan

Screeny przywiezione z fabryki o nazwie:

http://media.pc.ign.com